The New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones recently caught flack for a piece titled “Wrapping Up.†Frere-Jones began the joint review of Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 and Freddie Gibbs’ Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik with a pretty heady assertion: That hip-hop – gasp – is dead! If I had to pick a year for hip-hop’s demise, though, I would choose 2009, … [Read more…]
Gothamist’s John Del Signore has a fantastic interview with Fugazi wailer and guitarist Guy Picciotto as he tours the country supporting Vic Chesnutt. In it, there’s a quote that some Fugazi diehards may put more emphasis on than a majority of the rest of the chat: The band may do something again; we don’t know. … [Read more…]
I’m happy to post a selection from the ongoing email interview I’m having with one Darren Walters, co-founder of Jade Tree Records. As a majority of my America Is Just A Word interviewees happen to be musicians, it’s great having Darren on board to give some perspective of the other goings on that helped transform … [Read more…]
Rolling Stone, you take the cake: …so we can pretty much pin the entire state of emo at this point on Minor Threat. Why do I even bother? Do the folks at RSÂ even know what music is anymore? They’re probably too busy catching up with The Beatles circa 1966 to even try to recognize what … [Read more…]
Before the Super Secret Summer Surprise mishaps went down at the ICA the other night, I had the chance to peruse the Shepard Fairey exhibit before it closed for the night. I’m a fan of the guy’s work, so I certainly enjoyed the exhibit. But I couldn’t help but smile when I saw this piece: … [Read more…]
Well, I must stop myself there. I can’t say for sure if any of these folks are indeed of the hipster mentality. My guess is Anamanaguchi aren’t exactly, as they appear to have something of a normal sense of humor and hang out with genuine fun-loving guys Harry and the Potters (who are a very … [Read more…]
Tim Karan had an interview with former Sunny Day Real Estate frontman Jeremy Enigk for Alternative Press posted the day after the release of his newest solo album, OK Bear. What’s interesting was the conversation at the very end of the interview: Is there any truth behind the rumors that Sunny Day Real Estate are … [Read more…]
Music-and-film based satire blog The Umpteenth Times posted a great piece involving stimulus plans and Fugazi. What a gag:  “Fugazi to Receive Stimulus Check from Government By Frank Gurbleck  WASHINGTON D.C.—Earlier this week, the Washington D.C.-based band, Fugazi, received notice that they will be receiving a stimulus check as a part of President Obama’s attempt … [Read more…]
So, for folks who’ve been following along in this blog, I submitted a proposal to Continuum’s 33 1/3 series to write a book about The Promise Ring’s Nothing Feels Good. Series editor David Barker emailed everyone who submitted a proposal today concerning those he picked to make it to the shortlist, the final compilation short … [Read more…]
The Stooges founding member/guitarist Ron Asheton was found dead earlier today. The impact of that band on modern music is innumerable, as the group’s chaotic proto-punk had an intense impact on punk and every “alternative” act that is only equaled to The Velvet Underground. As far as the impact on emo, you can look back … [Read more…]